Electrical connection clip



Oct. 28,1930. 5 MUELLER 1,779,442

ELECTRICAL CONNECTION CLIP Filed Feb. 27, 1925 Patented Oct. 28, 1930UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH S. MUELLER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO,ASSIGNOR TO MUELLER ELECTRIC GOM- PANY, A PARTNERSHIP GOMPOSED OF RALPHS. MUELLER AN D MAUDE K. MUELLER ELECTRICAL CONN EGTION CLIP Applicationfiled February 27, 1925. Serial No. 11,956.

extension to which an electrical conductor is adapted to be attached.Generally the clip members are pivotally connected together, and thejaws are at the forward ends of 10 crossed portions or arms, in whichevent a spring is employed between the clip members to spread the bodyportions apart and thereby bring the jaws together.

Clips of this kind are made in various sizes, and especially whenemployed for certain purposes the clip members are required to haveconsiderable strength. In clips which I have manufactured and sold veryextensively, a certain amount of strengthening wasobtained byreinforcing the clip members by channeling or flanging them along theiredges where the construction admitted of such channeling, the same beingillustrated in Patent No. 1,521,903, granted in my name, on the 6th dayof January, 1925.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to increase thestrength and durability of electrical connection clips, and particularlyat and rearwardly beyond the point where the clip members are pivotallyconnected together, and along the extension to which the electricalconductor is adapted to be attached, as before stated.

A further object is to strengthen the clip members in an improvedfashion at and adjacent the points where the crossed arms merge into thejaws.

A still further object is to provide a construction wherein a shuntwhich is employed for the protection of the spring as broadly covered inthe Mueller patent, and particularly a U-shaped or bowed type of shunt,such as herein disclosed, is more completely housed than is the casewith the channel construction such as shown in the Mueller patent.

The invention may be here briefly summarized as consisting in certainnovel details of construction, and combinations and arrangements ofparts which will be described in the specification and set forth in theappended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings wherein I have shown the preferredembodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is a side view of the clip; Figs. 2and 3 are top and bottom views; Fig. lis a front end View; Fig. 5 is asectional View of a rear portionof the clip substantially along the line55 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view substantiallyalong the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by thearrows.

The clip is composed of two clip members 10 and 11 with crossed portions12 and jaws 13 at their free ends, the jaws being pressed yieldinglytogether by a spring 14.

The clip members 10 and 11 are pivotally connected together in thisinstance by providing on the member 10 two spaced tongues 15 which areextended through slots 16 in the clip member 11, but instead of havingthese slots 16 in the form of open slots extended inwardly from theedges as in the patent referred to above, it will be noted that they areclosed slots set in from the edges.

It is to be noted that the sides of both clip members are flangedinwardly or channeled as shown at 17, the flanges or channeling effectbeing extended along the arms or crossed portions 12, and beyond thebend at the forward end of the arms so as to extend well along the jawsand strengthen the device wherethe arms merge into the jaws. Likewise itwill be noted that on the clip member 11 the flanges extend rearwardlybeyond the pivot point, or beyond the slots 16 through which the tongues15 of the companion member project, the flanging being continued backalong an extension 18 adapted to receive an electric conductor andcarrying a terminal screw 19 which extends through a threaded opening onthe center line of the extension between the rear ends of the flanges.That is to say, the clip member 11 is flanged and thereby strengthenednot only at and adjacent the pivot point, but also along the extension18, the construction being such that the end of the conductor whenclamped beneath the screw 19 is vertically housed between the rear endsof the flanges. It should be noted that the extension of these flangesalong and rearwardly beyond the pivot point is rendered possible only byreason of the fact that the slots 16 are inset instead of being openslots as heretofore.

The spring 14 is a coil spring, and this spring is protected against thepassage of current therethrough by a shunt 20, broadly covered by theMueller patent above referred to, but in this instance the shunt is ofdifierentform and is arranged differently than in the Mueller patent,the shunt as here shown being in the form a U-shaped strip which extendsalong the body portions of the clip members 10 and 11 between theflanges 17 thereof, and has its free ends beneath the ends of the spring14 and clamped by the latter against the body portions of both clipmembers.

By reason of the fact that the flanges 17 on the clip member 11 areextended back beyond the pivot point, and by extending the correspondingflanges of the clip member 10 rearwardly and downwardly substantially tothe flanges of the member 11, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the shunt 20 isalmost completely housed in the channels of the two clip members.

The improvements above described in the positioning of the slots 16inwardly of the I side edges and the extension of the flanges,

particularly on the member 11 where the anges extend past the pivotpoint back along the extension which receives the electrical conductor,add considerably to the stren h of the clip, and additionally thesespeci ed improvements in connection with the new form of shunt enhancethe durability and utility of the clip.

While I have shown the preferred construction, I do not desire to beconfined to the precise details shown, but aim in my claims to cover allmodifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scopeof my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A clip composed of two ivotally connected members having crosseportions and jaws at the forward ends thereof, one member being slottedand the other being extended through it to form a pivotal connection,both members being flanged, with the flanges of the slotted memberextended back beyond the pivot point.

9- An electrical connection clip having rear portions pivotallyconnected together and forward crossed ortions terminating in jaws, aspring extending between the body portions of the clip members, and aU-shaped shunt having its ends pressed by the ends of the s ring intoengagement with the two clip mem rs.

3. An electrical connection clip composed of two channeled membershaving rear portions pivotally connected together and forward crossedportions terminating in jaws, a spring extending-across and between thebody portions of the clip members, and a U-shaped shunt lying in thechannels of both members and having its ends beneath the ends of thespring and by the latter pressed against the two clip members.

4. An electrical connection clip composed of two channeled pivotallyconnected members having crossed portions with jaws at their forwardends, one of said members having a rearward extension to receive anelectrical conductor, the flanges of both channeled members beingcontinued forwardly along the crossed portions thereof and part wayalong the jaws, the flanges of one of said members being continuedrearwardly past the .pivot point and part way along said extension, saidlast named member having adj acent'said extension and between theflanges thereof a pair of slots and said other channeled member havingan end portion fitting between the flanges of the last named member andprovided with spaced lugs extending through said slots and bent a ainstsaid last named member to form the pivotal connection between themembers.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

RALPH S. MUELLER.

